Marking 50th Earth Day in View of the Pandemic

Moto Photo

By Jennie Vasarhelyi

Think about an issue or belief that is important to you. Have you noticed a moment in time when it caught on and more people began to care?

As a National Park Service employee, I am interested in times when value for parks and the environment has increased. We might be in one of those moments right now. With the Covid-19 pandemic, parks are one of the few places where people in Ohio can go. People have flocked to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and crowding has emerged as an issue. Another one of these moments occurred in 1970 when thousands of environmental events took place on the first Earth Day. April 22 is Earth Day’s 50th anniversary.

Here is a little bit more about today’s situation. Covid-19 is an illness caused by a virus that easily spreads from person to person. To slow the spread, the Ohio Department of Health issued a Stay-at-Home Order that tells people to remain at home unless pursing an essential activity. The order lists walking, hiking, running, and biking in parks and greenspace as essential. This exception recognizes the importance of outdoor recreation for our physical and mental well-being. This isn’t a new idea. People in Greater Cleveland have visited Cuyahoga Valley as place for health and wellness for over a century. With Covid-19, this need has taken on greater urgency.

Likewise, interest the environment started before the first Earth Day. However, Earth Day focused public attention and increased momentum. Adam Rome, author of The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-in Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation, argues that interest in the environment coalesced into a movement with the first Earth Day.

Prior to 1970, the environment received growing but fragmented attention. Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, alerted people to human impacts on natural systems, especially those caused by technology. Conservation organizations widened their audiences by expanding their focus from single issues to broader concern for the environment. People became active in local environmental issues such as loss of open space to suburbanization. Significant federal legislation passed, including the Wilderness Act and a precursor to the Clean Water Act.

Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson had the vision for Earth Day. Elected as a Senator in 1962, he told the Christian Science Monitor in 1963 that “…the most crucial domestic issues facing America...is the conservation of natural resources.” Water pollution stood out to him as a major concern. In 1969, he visited an oil spill along the Pacific coast in Santa Barbara, California. Today, this spill ranks as the third largest in United States history. On his flight home from the spill, Nelson read about teach-ins that occurred on college campuses in the mid-1960s in response to the Vietnam War. These teach-ins combined education with protest, learning with action. They became his inspiration. In September 1969, he announced plans to organize a national teach-in on the environment. He established Environmental Teach-In, Inc. to provide support to local events. Input from an advertising agency led to the name change to Earth Day.

Children and rangers play with a giant earth ball on Cuyahoga Valley playfield.

NPS

The first Earth Day included over 12,000 events around the country with most held on college campuses. Organizers dubbed Cleveland’s event as the Crisis in the Environment Week. Activities included a Lake Erie beach cleanup, tree planting, a speech by Ralph Nadar at Cleveland State University, and a “March of Death” from Cleveland State to the Cuyahoga River that recognized the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire.

Rome notes how the first Earth Day resulted in new “eco-infrastructure” around the country. States established environmental protection agencies and passed new laws. The number of local environmental organizations doubled from 1968 to 1973. Environmental education and college environmental studies opportunities became more available. Voters favored pro-environment candidates. The legacy of Earth Day has been lasting. Much of the new “eco-infrastructure” still exists. Earth Day has grown into a world-wide commemoration. Organizers of Earth Day have set a goal to engage one billion people during this anniversary year.

Will the new interest in parks with Covid-19 be short-term or long-lasting? Of course, this isn’t a question that we can answer today. The answer will be yes if parks and greenspace continue to play a larger role in peoples’ daily lives. The legacy will be even larger if this increased appreciation turns into increased support by individuals and communities.

The National Park Service is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day online by highlighting earth sciences and stewardship of natural resources throughout April.

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Jennie Vasarhelyi leads the division of interpretation, education and visitor services at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Her guest columns appear in the West Side Leader and in Record-Courier newspapers in Northeast Ohio.